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In Greek mythology, two different groups of people were referred
to as the Hyades ("the rainy ones"). Pluvius ("he who sends rain")
was also used to describe them.
- Sisters of Hyas. Their brother was accidentally killed in a hunting accidents and the
Hyades died from their grief. They were changed into stars, the head of Taurus. Their names are Phaola, Ambrosia, Eudora, Coronis, and Polyxo.
- Additionally, Thione and Prodice, who were supposed to be daughters of Hyas by Aethra (one of the Oceanides), have been added to the group of stars.
The Greeks believed that the rising and setting of the Hyades were always attended with rain, hence the association of the
Hyades (sisters of Hyas) and the Hyades (daughters of ocean) with the constellation of the Hyades (rainy ones) and called also
'huo pluo'/'pluvius' (the rain bringer).
The Hyades are an open star cluster located in the
constellation Taurus. The closest star cluster to Earth, it is centered some 151 light years away. The brightest star in this direction is Aldebaran, but it is not a member of the cluster, being located at just over 40% of the distance. Not counting
Aldebaran, approximately 300 stars are known or suspected to be members of the cluster; most are not visible to the naked
eye.
The stars of the Hyades are associated with one another in the sense that they are all moving in approximately the same
direction and at the same speed through the galaxy. Plotting their movements backwards eventually brings them all to a more or
less a single point about 600-800 million years ago, a fact explained by the theory that they all formed in the same stellar nursery. The stars of the
Praesepe star cluster may also be
related.
This common motion was only demonstrated in 1908 by astronomer Lewis Boss, but the Hyades have been known
since antiquity. The name itself dates back at least as far as 1000 BC, when it is
mentioned in various Greek sources.
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